Magical mosaic

Here's a mystery close-up photo to start your day:

 

And another (from the same animal):

 

Did you guess a close-up of a butterfly wing?

That's correct!  

Now, which species of butterfly? 

 

Western Pine Elfin (Callophrys eryphon), photographed near Salt Point on 1 June 2018.

Here's one more close-up, showing more of those amazing scales around the eye, near the legs, and at the base of the wings:

 

Happy June!

 

Red flag day

 

It might not look like it from the photo, but the wind has been howling during the past couple of days.  When this photo was taken, the wind was blowing ~25 knots with gusts to ~30 knots.  Whitecaps to the horizon tell the story.

A red flag day!

 

The mob

I walked across the parking lot at work this morning to see a lot of commotion in the distance.  Can you tell what was going on?

 

A Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) was being mobbed by Brewer's Blackbirds (Euphagus cyanocephalus), a Common Raven (Corvus corvax), and at least one Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica).

Eventually the owl had enough and it flew off with all of the other birds "in tow" until it found shelter in a tree.

Little pups

We went for a short beach walk at the end of the day today (28 May 2018).  Eric noticed a spider that looked a little different:

 

Did you notice how the abdomen looks "fuzzy"?  This spider is carrying its young, so those are tiny little spiderlings clinging to their mother. 

Some of the young spiders let go and started running (and I mean running!) among the sand grains.

One stopped briefly in an empty mussel shell:

 

Here's an even closer view of this spiderling that's smaller than a sand grain (an admittedly large sand grain):

 

I'm not sure about the identity of this spider, but I'm guessing it's a species of wolf spider (Family Lycosidae).  If you're familiar with it, I'd love to learn which species it is.

 

Petaltail!

 

After some chores this morning, Eric and I decided to go on a short adventure to try to see a dragonfly I hadn't seen before — a Black Petaltail (Tanypteryx hageni).  We were lucky and found a few, thanks to a heads-up and helpful hints from Alan. 

There are only two species of petaltail (Family Petaluridae) in the U.S., the Black Petaltail (Tanypteryx hageni) in the West and the Gray Petaltail (Tachopteryx thoreyi) in the East.  Black Petaltails range from British Columbia to California, so we're at the southern end of their distribution.  They prefer wet seeps and bogs.

In the photo above, note that the eyes are separated (there's a gap between them) and that the upper abdominal appendages (at the very tip of the abdomen) are broad and rounded (similar in shape to some flower petals).

Here's another view from the side showing the strong yellow markings on both the thorax and the abdomen:

 

Below is an even closer view of the abdomen so you can appreciate the wonderful patterning:

 

And those beautiful brown eyes:

 

Black Petaltails are rare in Sonoma County, only occurring at a couple of sites.  It was a treat to see them!  Many thanks to Alan for helping us observe them for the first time.

Winging it

 

Another beautiful view of dense kelp in the low intertidal zone on the Mendocino coast — this one is Winged Kelp (Alaria marginata).

Spring transition

After field work near Mendocino on Sunday, we were walking up a coastal bluff and noticed some shallow pools off to the side of a small stream running along the rocks towards the ocean.  Looking down, some movement caught our eye:

 

Little wriggling tadpoles!

We followed the stream up to a small wet seep near the bluff.  Soon we saw tiny, newly-metamorphosed froglets (~1 cm long) jumping among the vegetation.

This one landed and nestled on the leaf of a Seep Monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus):

 

And here's one with wet feet:

 

Good luck little treefrogs!